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Indiana Pacers: Another opportunity was all Gerald Green wanted

Article by Zak Keefer. Relatively new writer for the Indy Star, but a good guy. An HSE Royal, too.

"He's one of the most dynamic athletes I've seen," Pritchard said.

Green, 26, is aware of the long odds he has overcome. Few players head to Europe and make it back.

"I just never thought I'd get another opportunity," Green said after a recent workout at Bankers Life Fieldhouse with Pacers center Roy Hibbert, still several weeks prior to the start of training camp. "But I'm glad I'm back where I started."

This is a good article; and pleasant to hear about Green. His hungriness should translate into great bench production; and hopefully it rubs off on everyone.

Very nice i cant wait to see Gerald and PG play together on the wings

Hope we here something from DJ Augustin soon intrested to hear his thoughts on the team.

interesting that the article left Lance out and talked as if Green was the top backup two. I've been thinking of him as the first three off the bench rather than as a two although I know he can play both. this may be a battle at camp.

Wizop wrote:interesting that the article left Lance out and talked as if Green was the top backup two. I've been thinking of him as the first three off the bench rather than as a two although I know he can play both. this may be a battle at camp.

I would assume that Gerald Green will be the first wing off the bench, no matter what. We play the 2 and the 3 interchangeably, for the most part, and Paul plays the 3 equally as the 2. Really, it doesn't matter, as Green will probably be 3rd in minutes on the wings (behind Paul and Danny), with Lance behind him in minutes.

Thing is, with Hill being able to play SG, and the Pacers having such a legit backup PG, I expect Stephenson to be sort of the "odd man out" in minutes.

Let's say George gets 32 mpg, Granger gets 32 mpg, and Hill gets 32 MPG.

At the entire 1-2-3 spots, that leaves a total of 48 minutes remaining.

20 for Augustin, 20 for Green, leaves about... 8 for Stephenson. Both guys are better players than Stephenson, with more proven track records and history of contributions.

I would expect that when the playoffs roll around, Stephenson will be relegated to garbage time minutes.

Our 9-man playoff rotation will be Hill, George, Granger, West, Hibbert with Augustin, Green, Hansbrough and Mahinmi off the bench.

but give Granger 8 small ball minutes at the 4 spot and then minutes open up for Lance even if Green gets a lot of minutes at 2. anyway, I still think it is too early to write anyone's minutes off.

I think both Lance or Plumlee could play their way into a spot ahead of Green, Hansbrough or Mahinmi. The possibility of Granger playing some 4 in a small ball lineup makes it that much more wide open.

8305 wrote:I think both Lance or Plumlee could play their way into a spot ahead of Green, Hansbrough or Mahinmi. The possibility of Granger playing some 4 in a small ball lineup makes it that much more wide open.

I think the biggest opportunity for minutes is what happens with Hansbrough backing up the 4. IF he can't produce or grow at that position, I would think that Danny will step up for some minutes at the 4 or Plumlee will take his minutes. Danny stepping up would open up minutes on the wings for Lance to earn as well.

I think Plumlee and Stephenson could be counted on a little more than most suspect. God forbid any injuries to any of the players, but either would see an uptick in playing time if someone got hurt. Also, you can't predict when those ahead of them will be in foul trouble. Both will have multiple opportunities to seize a role.

Lance can play 1 or 2, and Plumlee can play 4 or 5. We'll soon find this to be awfully useful.

I see Lance at 10th and Plumlee at 11th on the depth chart.

I'm intrigued by the possibility of an 8 man rotation. The three bench guys being Augustine, Green and Plumlee.

DJ might be the best pg coming off the bench in the league. I could see him and George Hill being pretty effective together. When its all said and done he might be our best 3 point shooter and best distributor of the ball. He could command 25 to 30 minutes a night.

The thought of Granger, George and Green on the floor at the same time is pretty interesting to me. Gotta think there will be one or maybe two really bad matchups for the opposition. Also have to wonder if the opportunity to play small and push tempo isn't a pretty intersting possibility too. In this scenario Green effectively becomes the sub for Granger and West.

Finally, how nice would it be to have a big who could jump out and aggressively defend the pick and role? If Plumlee can do this consistently he would command minutes. I could see where that would be more valuable than anything you get from Hansbrough or Mahinmi.

A great bench in my mind doesn't have to include 5 guys. Three guys who give you something unique not provided by our starters, who can compete with the opposition starters, that's what OKC basically does. Ultimately I see these three as the guys bringing that dynamic.

8305 wrote:I'm intrigued by the possibility of an 8 man rotation.

I see that as a playoff rotation with many more guys playing in the regular season so that you don't wear out your eight.

Wizop wrote:

8305 wrote:I'm intrigued by the possibility of an 8 man rotation.

I see that as a playoff rotation with many more guys playing in the regular season so that you don't wear out your eight.

If you assume a max of 32 min/game per guy you wouldn't really be asking that much of anyone. You might want to develop another player or two. That logic supports the use of more guys during he season but properly distributed minutes among eight guys shouldn't wear anyone out.

8305 wrote:

Wizop wrote:

8305 wrote:I'm intrigued by the possibility of an 8 man rotation.

I see that as a playoff rotation with many more guys playing in the regular season so that you don't wear out your eight.

If you assume a max of 32 min/game per guy you wouldn't really be asking that much of anyone. You might want to develop another player or two. That logic supports the use of more guys during he season but properly distributed minutes among eight guys shouldn't wear anyone out.

But it does. Generally, season rotations are 9-11 players deep, depending on situations. That allows you to ultimately know what your best 8-9 man rotation is by the playoffs, so you can maximize on your talent, and ensure that players are healthy.

Not sure if we are saying the same thing?

Yes, I think an expanded rotation makes sense if there is very little difference between players 6 to 10 and the coach is figuring out exactly what he has. In our case I have a tough time seeing Augustine getting 15 to 20 min/game to allow Stephenson to get the same. Regular season or not. I don't think it's a wild stretch for Gerald Green to demand more than standard backup minutes too. And, if their play warrants the minutes, 30 min/game shouldn't wear them out.

8305 wrote:Not sure if we are saying the same thing?

Yes, I think an expanded rotation makes sense if there is very little difference between players 6 to 10 and the coach is figuring out exactly what he has. In our case I have a tough time seeing Augustine getting 15 to 20 min/game to allow Stephenson to get the same. Regular season or not. I don't think it's a wild stretch for Gerald Green to demand more than standard backup minutes too. And, if their play warrants the minutes, 30 min/game shouldn't wear them out.

No, we're not saying anything the same at all.

You want to run 8 guys only all 82 games this season plus playoffs. I don't want to run only 8 guys in the rotation UNTIL the playoffs. Before that, you NEED to figure out who your best 8-9 man rotations or lineups even are. I feel if we stick to an 8 man rotation all season long, we won't have many of those 8 guys healthy or energetic enough to play in the playoffs and will face an early round upset.

I think it's possible that determining who the first 8 or 9 guys are won't take a full season. The most likely guys to separate themselves are Green and Augustine. If they do, I think allocating 30 min/game to them would make sense and given their ages would probably not wear them out. I'm not suggesting you put remarkable stress on any of the starters.

I think, over the course of an 82 game season and not a 60 game season, that 30 minutes or more consistently would wear them out.

We don't have 3 superstars like the Heat. Our strength lies in our depth. Our strength lies in the fact that we can throw 12-13 different guys out there and keep them fresh all night long and attack you. That's what we need to do. If we play 8 guys all season long, we'll wear down our 8 best guys and will certainly be in trouble going into the playoffs.

Not sure I agree this year's 82 game scheule puts more pressure on the bench than last yrer's 60 game schedule. Lots of games in a short period of time last year.

I like our bench. They may prove to be one of the best in the league but they are collectively pretty unproven at this point. Particularly if you plan to go beyond the number 8 or 9 guy. The only bench guy who's really had extended starter responsibility is Augustine. Hansbrough was generally less than steller in the Playoffs last year. Not sure I'd call Green or Mahinmi proven commodities either. Plumlee and Stephenson are even less proven. We will be lucky if three of these guys prove to be exceptional but I'd rather have three exceptional guys than five or more who are average.

So you're saying we should just run a 6 man rotation, then?